Sustainable horticulture: healthy food for all forever

17 Jul 2017

One of the themes at last week’s Horticulture Conference was sustainability. To illustrate this, a mini documentary video was produced and released; you can view the video below.

A number of the conference speakers highlighted the divide between the rural and urban sectors, focusing on the lack of understanding about the rural by the urban. This video is intended to bridge that gap, and highlight the good story that is horticulture.

Horticulture has been sustainable for a long time. Many of New Zealand’s growers are fourth or fifth generation, and you don’t stay on the land, passing it on generation after generation, without knowing how to care for the land and ensure that it can sustain those who come after you. And so, for the good of our children and their children, protection of the environment is paramount.

Another significant and sustainable aspect of New Zealand horticulture is our focus on the people we work with, and the communities we live in. This is also highlighted in the video. Although the horticulture industry is smaller than the dairy industry in New Zealand, we employ around 20,000 more people, and we have a tiny growing footprint of around 120,000 hectares. From that, we are able to sustainably produce around $5.6 billion in value.

The end result is that consumers get fresh, healthy, high-quality food from our New Zealand growers, which is produced using sustainable and environmentally sound practices that look after both the land and the people. We have a well-earned reputation for providing safe, healthy food that meets consumer expectations around sustainability and the environment, and of course taste. All of this is demonstrated in this video.

We think the horticulture story is a great story to be able to tell. If you agree, please watch the video and send it on.